Past And Present
by Marymel
Summary: Jackson comforts his Aunt Sara after she solves the case in Dead Woods. Mild spoilers.


**Jackson is my original character, but I don't own CSI.**

**Mild spoilers for Dead Woods.**

**Dead Woods was one of my favorite episodes this past season. I LOVED Sara in this episode, and I especially love the scenes with her and Greg. So I wondered how Jackson might comfort his favorite aunt. Here's what I came up with. Hope you all enjoy...and pretty please review!**

Sara sighed and looked at the picture. She wished she could go back in time and have more memories of her father. Knowing Abby could finally put her past to rest gave her peace, but she still wished she knew what really happened with her own family.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard Jackson say, "Daddy! Aunt Sara!"

"Hey!" Greg said with a warm smile as he lifted his son into a big hug. Seeing Greg and Jackson together and how they loved each other was bliss.

"Mrs. Barbara dropped me off, an' she hadda see Uncle D.B., so I here!" Jackson happily said.

Greg smiled warmly. "Well, I'm glad you're here."

"So am I," Sara said honestly.

Jackson smiled and wriggled out of Greg's arms. "Hi, Aunt Sara!"

Sara hugged her godson. "Hi, honey."

Jackson pulled away and looked at Sara's photograph. "Aunt Sara, is that you?"

"Yeah," she said with a warm smile. She picked up the picture and showed it to Jackson. "This is me when I was a little girl. And that..." Sara pointed to the man in the picture. "That's my dad."

"Oh," Jackson said. "You were cute!"

"Thanks," Sara said with a soft laugh.

"You welcome, an' you pretty!" Jackson said with a big smile.

Sara hugged Jackson and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

"Where your daddy?" Jackson innocently asked.

Greg sighed and Sara smiled sadly. "He died. He died when I was little."

"Oh," Jackson said sadly. "So he in your heart?"

Sara smiled sadly. "Yeah." Seeing Jackson so happy to be with his father and just loving being with his family gave Sara peace, but she sometimes wished she could have the happy family growing up that Jackson, Greg and Morgan had.

Jackson looked and saw Sara looking sad. "Aunt Sara, you sad?"

Sara rubbed Jackson's back. "A little. I miss him sometimes."

"You don't have to be sad. He in your heart."

"And I think he's proud of your Aunt Sara," Greg said softly.

"Yeah," Jackson said. "Cause you a good scientist an' a really cool aunt!"

Sara had to smile at the sweet boy. "Well, thank you. I think you and your dad are really cool."

Greg smiled as Jackson said, "Did you know we saw a butterfly at the park?"

"You did?" Sara asked with a smile.

"Yeah! It was pretty! An' it flew all around, like this." Jackson waved his hand like he was tracing the path of a butterfly.

Watching Jackson and hearing him talk about how he loved spending time with his daddy and CSI family, Sara smiled lovingly. She knew Jackson loved her and Greg, and just spending time with him was wonderful. As much as she wished sometimes her father was still around and she'd had a more normal childhood, she was in a good place with her extended family. And she adored Jackson. He always just seemed to know what to say, and she loved watching him grow up.

Sara smiled warmly. "You know what, Jackson?"

"What?"

"Thank you."

"Why?" Jackson innocently asked.

"Well...I was feeling sad because a friend of mine had something really bad happen to her. And she didn't know if we'd find out what happened to her family. But we did. And she can move on."

"You did?" Jackson asked.

"Your Aunt Sara helped her," Greg said. "And the people who hurt her family won't hurt anyone else."

"Oh! Good job, Aunt Sara!" Jackson said with a big smile.

Sara laughed softly. "Thank you, sweetheart. And your daddy helped too." She smiled as Jackson smiled widely at Greg. "You have a very good daddy."

"He the bestest!" Jackson said as he hugged Greg.

Greg smiled warmly as he hugged his son. As Jackson pulled away, Greg said, "You have a very good aunt, too."

"Yeah!" Jackson said as he hugged Sara.

Sara felt her sadness melt away as she hugged Jackson. Knowing he loved her and how much he and Greg loved each other, she knew her extended family was okay. And she knew Jackson would be just fine.

"I love you!" Jackson happily said.

Sara smiled. "I love you, too."

**The End**


End file.
